Moonage SpaceDream

There are definitely pros and cons to the iPhone. However, blogging from practically anywhere with spell checking is a major pro for me!

So far my only major gripe is how little concern was given to the camera. it could so easily have done so much more

Technorati Tags: iphone

The guys over at Independent Sources are a bit undone by a bizarre lawsuit filed by Channel Intelligence.  It seems the guys at Channel Intelligence have filed a lawsuit over anyone who has developed a wishlist using a database.  They however, have not taken on the big boys like Ebay or Amazon.  They’re smart enough to know that the frivolty of their lawsuit would get them swamped in legal fees if they did.  Basically they’re just tryign to blackmail the little guys.  That’s bogus and won’t get very far.  Primarily because all the little guys have to do apparently is change the name of their feature to an “I want” list as opposed to a “wish” list.  Or, all they have to do apparently is use the engines of one of the big boys to handle their “wish” list, something like this for example:

Hey, don’t sue me, it’s an Amazon list!

Technorati Tags: channel intelligence, idiot, lawsuit, list, patent, wish

The Lucifer Project is a conspiracy theory I can not believe has eluded me for some time.  Now, it’s hard to find decent graphics to illustrate what this has mind, so you have to start with this:

Now, the concept in 2010 was the aliens that controllled the obelisks decided Man wasn’t doing such a good job with the intelligence he had given and decided to start afresh.  They didn’t go too far away, jsut a few planets over in the same solar system.  The added mass to Jupiter which caused it to explode into a small star that not only eliminated nighttime on Earth, it provided the heat and ingredients to create life on Europa. 

All These Planets Are Yours Except Europa, Attempt No Landing There…
…Use Them Together, Use Them In peace

Man immediately disobeyed the prime directive.

So, using Arthur Clarke as their motivation, some immediately began wondering what would happen if you just simply dropped a large nuclear bomb on Jupiter.  Well, we did that in 1994.  A little cloud appeared briefly on Jupiter.  That folks, gave birth to the Lucifer Project Conspiracy.  At the end of the Galileo Jupiter probe’s mission, NASA decided to simply crash Galileo into Jupiter.  Now, some think it was to save Europa, some think it was an accident.  And, some think it was to ignite Jupiter thereby creating a new sun, killing off most of humanity, and creating a new garden of Eden for those who survived.  The people who espouse the Lucifer Project believe the non-reporting about the little dark spot on Jupiter is evidence supporting NASA’s secret mission.  And, that apparently all publicly and privately funded astronomers were in on it too.  That would make them a part of the Illuminati I suppose.

Well, since there are no more nuclear bombs destined for Jupiter any time soon, The Lucifer Project had to adjust their plan to accomodate the “end is near” philosophy that makes any conspiracy theory feel important.  The adjusted plan uses the Cassini probe igniting Saturn.  They have lots of science to support their theory.

Only one problem, Saturn doesn’t have the mass to support itself even if “lit”.  Neither does Jupiter.  That’s why Arthur Clarke was so brilliant, he adds MASS to create the ignition, not fire.

So, if Cassini does finish its life by crashing into Saturn.  Most likely, we’ll get a dark spot on Saturn for a few days and every astronomer will know why it’s there.  More likely, we won’t get anything.

But, we’ll have to wait a while.  Cassini’s mission has been extended a couple more years already.

Technorati Tags: 2010, arthur clarke, cassini, conspiracy, Earth, europa, galileo, jupiter, lucifer project, mass, nasa, nuclear, saturn, solar, spot, Titan

Here’s the story:

When heatwaves strike, it’s far more difficult to cope with stifling temperatures in built-up areas than it is out in the countryside. An ESA campaign has just been carried out to see if a spaceborne thermal infrared sensor could help policy makers and town planners reduce the number of casualties when temperatures soar.

High densely built-up areas trap the heat, especially at night, causing what is called Urban Heat Islands (UHI) in which city centres can be up to 10º C warmer than surrounding rural areas. Another consequence of UHIs is that energy consumption rises with the increased use of air conditioners and refrigeration appliances.

Now, I’m no rocket scientist, but I think I have some common sense.  What is different about “urban heat islands” than the countryside?  Let me see if I can illustrate this:

Big South Fork Scenic Railroad, McCreary County, Kentucky

That would be the countryside.

Notice anything missing in Times Square?

Now, if you’re in my little town.  You can be in a parking lot and it will be scorching hot right now.  Today it’s supposed to get to 97 or so.  It will feel a lot hotter than that.  Guaranteed.  However, the beauty of being here is that in seconds you can walk into a completely forested area.  The temperature will drop at least 10 degrees.  It will feel a lot cooler than that.  Regardless of the calming and relaxing effect of being amongst the trees and fauna, there is a logical reason for this phenomena.  Although extremely complicated, I’ll try to make it as simple as I can.

You’re standing in the shade.  The direct sunlight is not hitting you.

The by-product of standing in the shade of vegetation is that said vegetation releases oxygen.  Without going into a whole lot of science, your body functions much better when it’s burning oxygen than carbon monoxide.  Trees and stuff consume that bad carbon monoxide and release, of all things, oxygen.  So, your not exposed to the heat, and what heat you are exposed to, your better equipped to deal with.

Pretty amazing huh?

The article didn’t go into how much this ESA satellite cost to put together and launch and operate.  But, as with any space venture, I can imagine it was in the millions of dollars.  Wonder how many trees that would planted in those urban heat islands?

Maybe we need to quit sciencing stuff to death and just rely a little more on God-given common sense?

Plant some trees.  Rooftops and sidewalks make great places for trees and stuff to grow.  They look a lot prettier than tar and concrete.  And, they just absolutely LOVE to eat smog.  And when it gets really hot, sit under one.

I won’t even bother with the energy saving or ecological impact aspect of lowering the impact of urban warming.  Somehow I just know the attitude that most likely will be given when telling places like Madrid and New York City they need to be more like rural towns.

Technorati Tags: carbon, carbon monoxide, death, ESA, european space agency, mardid, new york city, obama, oxygen, satellite, strasbourg, tree, trees, urban heat island, urban-warming, valencia, vigo

Apple Iphone

( Sung to Berlin’s “Waiting on the Metro”. )  I tried to get one of these Friday:

So far, no luck.  It’s not that the activation system stopped me, it’s that they sent twice as many phones to a town 1/3 the size of mine, so we ran out and they had a few to spare.  Now, the way I understand it, from the peeps at AT&T, they can’t just run down to the other store and get some more, they have to “special order” the new ones.  I could have driven the 100 mile round trip to get one, but I didn’t feel like it since there was no guarantee one would be available once I got there.  This is just another Apple fubar.

UPDATE: The wait is over.  It took about nine days.  The activation went flawlessly and very quickly, about five minutes.  I ported a number from a small regional carrier and that took about three hours.  So far, I am thrilled with my new toy.

Technorati Tags: activation, apple, iphone, stock

First Nancy Pelosi decided to shut down NASA because they prefer to speak English.  As of now, HR 3737, funding supporting SETI, is effectively dead.  With David Obey on the oversight committee, we can expect a whole lot more of science getting axed if it has nothing to do with proving global warming exists.

Thanks Phil.  This is what we get when the science community is completely blinded by partisan politics and rhetoric.

Technorati Tags: arthur clarke, blind, david obey, Global Warming, HR 3737, nancy pelosi, nasa, SETI

Check out the location of this visitor:

If you zoom in, repeatedly, there is still nothing there but a bunch of water.  No matter what map I look at, there’s nothing there.  All that leads me to wonder if it’s not someone on a boat with GPS or something.  That’s not really how the internet works, so I pretty much had to dismisss the Gilligan’s Island scenario where I was going to have to rush off and save Mary Ann.  At this point, I’m totally clueless.  That’s a heck of a place to be right now.

All this would not have struck as being sooooo weird if it weren’t for the fact the only thing they were interested in was the Jeff Peckman alien video.  I sorta get the feeling someone out there is concerned about that video outing them?

( In all seriousness, where IS that? )

Technorati Tags: africa, alien, gulf of guinea, jeff peckman

That is a typical underwater volcano.  I love to watch them.  Something eerie looking, kinda alien.  So, I finally found a story that gives me the opportunity to show at least a picture of one.  Here’s today’s story:

Volcanoes Erupt Beneath Arctic Ice

New evidence deep beneath the Arctic ice suggests a series of underwater volcanoes have erupted in violent explosions in the past decade.

Hidden 2.5 miles (4,000 meters) beneath the Arctic surface, the volcanoes are up to a mile (2,000 meters) in diameter and a few hundred yards tall. They formed along the Gakkel Ridge, a lengthy crack in the ocean crust where two rocky plates are spreading apart, pulling new melted rock to the surface……

Which, I read with special interest since CNN ran a poll about the story of the polar ice caps melting entirely this summer.  There has been quite a bit of media interest and speculation as to why the polar ice caps are melting.  Now, we had been through this scenario before.  Everythign was melting in Greenland, and it was all man’s fault.  Until, that is, they figured out there was a large volcano underneath Greenland heating everything up.  Once they figured that out, Greenland hasn’t been mentioned since in the global warming debate and the polar ice caps immediately started melting.  Not one person thought to see if the same thing was happening at the North Pole as it was in Greenland.  Well, now that they have found that the same thing IS happening at the North Pole, this is what they figured out:

“We don’t believe the volcanoes had much effect on the overlying ice,” Reeves-Sohn told LiveScience, “but they seem to have had a major impact on the overlying water column.”

Now, I’m inclined to believe they don’t want to believe it has any effect on the overlying ice.  My limited science background does tell me that heat rises.  And, it also tells me volcanoes are very hot.  Now, granted these volcanoes are under a lot of water, that heat still has to go somewhere.   It just bugs me that although “scientists” are more than willing to research the connection of gases moving from continental US and photosynthesizing over the Arctic, thereby trapping the sun’s rays closer to earth and slightly warming the atmosphere by less than five degrees and thereby causing all of the ice at the North Pole to melt, they are unwilling apparently to explore the concept that a volcano releasing lava at 1,250 degrees directly below the ice would melt it.

Maybe it’s just me, but I would hope anyone reading these articles will scratch their heads as well.

My bet, in the not too distant future, someone is going to hypothesize that the extreme heat of those underwter volcanoes is contributing to the melting ice directly above them.

Duh.

Technorati Tags: arctic, gakkel ridge, greenland, ice, livescience, polar, volcano, volcanoes

I have been running a poll for a while asking people what they think the future of energy is.  So far, biomass is coming in dead last at 9% or so.  Quite frankly, I tended to be one of those that felt like biomass was the least likely.  The efforts in biomass so far have yielded some pretty nasty, and pretty useless results.  However, check this out:

SwiftFuel’sgeneral aviation SwiftFuel© is less expensive, more fuel-efficient and significantly environmentally friendlier. Unlike current biomass fuels, SwiftFuel© is comprised of synthetic hydrocarbons derived from biomass yet meets or exceeds the standards for aviation fuel as verified by nationally recognized laboratories…..

The general aviation industry each year uses nearly 570 million gallons of 100LL aviation fuel, which is toxic, increasingly expensive and non-renewable. In contrast, testing has shown SwiftFuel© is 15 percent to 20 percent more fuel efficient, has no sulfur emissions, requires no stabilizers; has a 30-degree lower freezing point, introduces no new carbon emissions, and is lead-free. In addition, the components of this fuel can be formulated into a replacement for jet/turbine fuels. 

Now, the kicker to me is biomass is basically anything that rots.  That would seem to be quite renewable.

Special Hat Tip to Jeff!

Technorati Tags: aviation fuel, back to hte future, biomass, biomass fuels, carbon emissions, general aviation

Here is Volkswagon’s vision of the future:

Now, this is pretty cool.  More along the lines of appearing pretty normal.  Now, according to Cnet, Volkswagon is expecting a consumer version of this car in 7 to 10 years.  What they are waiting on is for some semblence of a hydrogen infrastructure to be in place.

I don’t think that’s going to happen in 7 to 10 years.  The logic is pretty simple.  Several companies have already pondered the infrastructure situation and potential and are looking at more efficient electrical use.  I’ve written about the Volt, it runs on batteries.  Now, my guess is in 7 to 10 years, once batteries become more of a staple of transportation and are being sold by the millions, that technology will only improve.  Particularly, I see a focus on the ability to re-charge in a timely manner.  Possibly, you’ll see stations carrying replacement batteries so a person in a hurry could in theory just drop a new battery in and leave their old battery there, for a fee of course.

What I really don’t see is a mass conversion of mom and pop gas stations across America spending the money it would take to set up hydrogen refueling stations in hopes that some day a bunch of people will be driving cars using that hydrogen.  It just doesn’t make any sense for the gas station owner.  Especially when you consider the fact that cars running on electricity only now are getting 300 miles and more on a single charge.

Now, at this time, Volkswagon’s Hymotion is a electric-gas hybrid.  MY suggestion to Volkswagon is to go the electric route and get these cars on the road now.  If they don’t, and sit around waiting for hydrogen to pop up, they’ll probably wind up way behind the wheel when everyone is driving electric.
 

Technorati Tags: electricity, gas stations, hybrid, hydrogen, hydrogen cars, hydrogen infrastructure, hydrogen refueling stations, hymotion, vision of the future, volkswagon, volt